One day in 2013, Euan Munro grabbed a camera and started speaking to it. His YouTube channel took a while to take off, but by 2016 he had landed an agent and millions of views. Ah, the glory days of social media, where trolls plagued the forums and Vine reigned supreme! Flattery and money were pouring in, but so were the weird comments from adult men who asked him for feet pics. Everything was going his way, so why should he complain?
Playback is a time capsule of period-accurate memes, capturing the specific zeitgeist of early cyberculture. It’s a shame that it’s so meandering in its aim. It ambles too much between vanity and victimisation before its reflection pays off. He has a bunch of really good quips up his sleeve and a charismatic personality that fills a room easily. And, sure, watching snippets of his old videos and cringing together is fun, but we stay on the surface for too long.
Munro writes a compelling monologue about online predators, fame, and the repercussions his stint as a YouTuber had on his mental health. With its multimedia direction and snappy pace, it’s an entertaining show. The writing, however, fails to dig into the real issues of the subject. The thematic climax hits too late, after one-too-many eerie allusions (mostly done through the soundscape) to the lasting effects of growing up on the internet. The meaty part only kicks off 15 minutes before the end.
Munro’s exploitation of his own case study is the byproduct of his overexposure to an audience. By addressing us directly and interacting with the public, we become very neutrally involved in his investigation too. It's clever, but we wish he took it a step further, dialled down the slight self-conceit, and doubled down on his thesis. It could be so much more.
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